{"data":{"id":"us-al/ala.-code-34-8a-52","jurisdiction":"us-al","citation":"Ala. Code § 34-8A-52","heading":"State Participation in the Compact.","body":"(a) To participate in the compact, a state must currently:\n(1) License and regulate licensed professional counselors;\n(2) Require licensees to pass a nationally recognized exam approved by the commission;\n(3) Require licensees to have a 60 semester-hour (or 90 quarter-hour) master’s degree in counseling or 60 semester-hours (or 90 quarter-hours) of graduate course work, including the following topic areas:\na. Professional counseling orientation and ethical practice.\nb. Social and cultural diversity.\nc. Human growth and development.\nd. Career development.\ne. Counseling and helping relationships.\nf. Group counseling and group work.\ng. Diagnosis and treatment; assessment and testing.\nh. Research and program evaluation.\ni. Other areas as determined by the commission.\n(4) Require licensees to complete a supervised postgraduate professional experience as defined by the commission; and\n(5) Have a mechanism in place for receiving and investigating complaints about licensees.\n(b) A Member State shall:\n(1) Participate fully in the commission’s data system, including using the commission’s unique identifier as defined in rules;\n(2) Notify the commission, in compliance with the terms of the compact and rules, of any adverse action or the availability of investigative information regarding a licensee;\n(3) Implement or utilize procedures for considering the criminal history records of applicants for an initial privilege to practice. These procedures shall include the submission of fingerprints or other biometric-based information by applicants for the purpose of obtaining an applicant’s criminal history record information from the FBI and the agency responsible for retaining that state’s criminal records;\na. A member state must fully implement a criminal background check requirement, within a time frame established by rule, by receiving the results of the FBI record search and shall use the results in making licensure decisions.\nb. Communication between a member state, the commission, and among member states regarding the verification of eligibility for licensure through the compact shall not include any information received from the FBI relating to a federal criminal records check performed by a member state under Public Law 92-544.\n(4) Comply with the rules of the commission;\n(5) Require an applicant to obtain or retain a license in the home state and meet the home state’s qualifications for licensure or renewal of licensure, as well as all other applicable state laws;\n(6) Grant the privilege to practice to a licensee holding a valid unencumbered license in another member state in accordance with the terms of the compact and rules; and\n(7) Provide for the attendance of the state’s commissioner to the counseling compact commission meetings.\n(c) Member states may charge a fee for granting the privilege to practice.\n(d) Individuals not residing in a member state shall continue to be able to apply for a member state’s single state license as provided under the laws of each member state. However, the single state license granted to these individuals shall not be recognized as granting a privilege to practice professional counseling in any other member state.\n(e) Nothing in this compact shall affect the requirements established by a member state for the issuance of a single state license.\n(f) A license issued to a licensed professional counselor by a home state to a resident in that state shall be recognized by each member state as authorizing a licensed professional counselor to practice professional counseling, under a privilege to practice, in each member state.","path":["Title 34 Professions and Businesses.","Chapter 8A Counselors.","Article 2 Counseling Compact."],"source_url":"https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=34-8A-52","current_through":"Act 2026-611","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T14:01:54Z","sha256":"52c762064c7d1fe4e08458fad21e9a4950e855efa9f2775fbe5e2c0a177b4268","source_id":"us-al","stale":false,"prev":"us-al/ala.-code-34-8a-51","next":"us-al/ala.-code-34-8a-53"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}